Listen to the People in 2014
Guest article from Senator Ted Cruz
To the great members of Village Republican Women,
Happy New Year! I hope all of you had a Merry Christmas and a blessed holiday season. Thank you for your steadfast support, prayers, and well wishes during my first year in the Senate.
As we begin 2014, my focus remains on policies that create economic growth and prosperity. We must continue our fight to stop the train wreck that is Obamacare. The reason Obamacare is failing is not because it is a bungled website. It is because Americans are now seeing the fundamental trade-off behind the law — that in order to insure a relatively small number of the uninsured, many millions more Americans are likely to lose their private insurance, lose access to preferred doctors, or pay substantially more for their insurance.
Obamacare is a major jobs killer, especially for those struggling to climb the economic ladder. Workers are seeing their hours cut, and small businesses are unable to hire new employees. It’s common sense to recognize that Obamacare isn’t working. We need to repeal it entirely, and instead reform federal law to expand choices and make health plans personal, portable, and affordable.
Moreover, there is a problem in Washington that is bigger than Obamacare. It is even bigger than the budget. The most fundamental problem and frustration is that people in Washington aren’t listening. If you talk to the men and women on the street, that is the message you hear over and over again: Why don’t they listen to me? Why don’t they hear what we have to say? They aren’t listening to the millions of people – Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Libertarians – across the spectrum who say our elected officials get to Washington and stop listening to the people.
In every poll that has been done for years, when Americans are asked what their top priority is, the answer is consistently “jobs and the economy.” It’s a national sentiment in Texas and all 50 States and it goes across party lines. You can ask Republicans, Democrats, or Independents. They all say we need jobs and economic growth back.
In 2013, the Senate spent virtually no time even talking about jobs and the economy. We spent six weeks talking about guns and taking away law-abiding citizens’ Second Amendment rights, yet we spent virtually no time talking about fundamental tax reform, regulatory reform, or sparking the economy. This is unfortunately an issue that has festered because of bipartisan cooperation. Yet politicians still wonder why Congress is held in such low esteem.
In 2014, we need to do a better job of listening to the people. If the top priority of the American people is jobs and the economy, then the top priority of Congress should be jobs and the economy. Congress should decide to listen to the American people in 2014, focusing on jobs and economic growth instead of a radical progressive agenda.